Online Shopping Frauds. Be careful when you shop online as fraudsters love this time of the year

There is a huge rise in fraud as well as frenzy of deals and limited-time discounts during Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day. These tips could help. Your bank will never contact you by email or otherwise to ask you to validate personal information such as your user ID, password or account numbers. Before buying online, research the seller to check they are genuine such as official websites and avoid those with poor ratings. Look for a padlock sign at web address which indicates safe reliable site. Do not click on any links or downland attachments or emails you are unsure about. Never pay by direct transfer. Delete them and block the senders’ email address. Report phishing scams. Keep your personal information a secret. Do not share them. Keep strong passwords for each account your have. Have adequate anti-virus software. Try to avoid entering your card details on shared or public computers. Always log out after shopping online and safe a record of your purchase.

Avoid being victims of online shopping frauds

Fake business accounts have the potential to be very dangerous that regular spam accounts. They will pretend to be someone you know and ask for personal details such as payment information or email address.

There are plenty of fraud prevention tips, tools and guidance are available from your bank and the action fraud group to keep you and your money safe.

Scam warning

Your bank will never ask you to move your money to a ‘safe’ account. They will never open up a loan, overdraft or make an internal transfer without your permission. Fraudsters will organise this and then call you pretend to be your bank. Be safe. You can block and report them as spam at any time. The moderation team work 24/7 to keep customers safe and investigate all complaints in full.